A strange concept for rubber.

Toxolotl · 2019-12-06 13:22:05

Instead of making rubber an exclusive material that can only be produced by multiple races. Perhaps there could be a quality tier that reduces the production efficiency.

Low grade materials can be obtained by any race. High grade materials can only be obtained by the races specific to that biome.

This would only apply to latex, sulfur, oil, and palm kernels.

Would work something like this:

[Low grade palm oil + low grade latex + low grade sulphur = one rubber]

[High grade palm oil + low grade latex + low grade sulphur = two rubber]

[High grade palm oil + high grade latex + low grade sulphur = three rubber]

[High grade palm oil + high grade latex + high grade sulphur = four rubber]

[High grade crude oil = 100% production rate]
[Low grade crude oil = 50% production rate]

Anything other than these resources would be exclusive to the race of each biome and would likely be highly valuable to other races (gold, alum, tomatoes, etc)

I think a system like this would still promote finding other families and trading/sharing high grade resources. It would also give each family a fighting chance at surviving while still making it a disadvantage to go it alone/not work with other fams.

Let me know what you think.

Last edited by Toxolotl (2019-12-06 14:15:07)

voy178 · 2019-12-06 13:49:55

Better than stagnation at least.

Spoonwood · 2019-12-06 18:38:26

I prefer this sort of idea to the current system, and suggested something similar to it here where I said "Imagine this:" https://onehouronelife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8439 . However, these sorts of efficiency differences should NOT apply to race. They should apply to family, as such would represent different families having different knowledge. Having such based on family would also address an underlying and longstanding problem of characters in this game being all too similar in abilities and apparently knowledge. It makes no sense that all blacks in family A in one location would have the same knowledge as blacks in family B half way across the world, even in the future.

Edit: Missed the last part. It doesn't feel right that Gingers or hypothetically only a few families can grow rose bushes without outside help. Still, better than the current mess.

Last edited by Spoonwood (2019-12-06 18:41:28)

Toxolotl · 2019-12-06 18:43:32

Ok so i think the structure i presented is a bit unbalanced. Removing palm oil as a factor could even things out. Given the jungle race could automatically produce three rubber it would make them too op.

Perhaps something like this:

[Palm oil + low grade latex + low grade sulphur = one rubber]

[Palm oil + low grade latex + high grade sulphur = one rubber]

[Palm oil + high grade latex + low grade sulphur = two rubber]

[Palm oil + high grade latex + high grade sulphur = four rubber]

High grade sulphur wont take effect unless combined with high grade latex. To balance the advantage desert fams have with horses early game.

Let me know if you have any thoughts on further ways to balancing a system like this.

Elsayal · 2019-12-07 07:19:25

Hi,
I don't like this system.

The game is hard, you want to make it easy.

pein · 2019-12-07 08:50:22

used up around 29 tires for Newcomen within 3 lifes in bell town oh man, that's 8 buckets

Toxolotl · 2019-12-07 23:32:32

I want the game to be accessible not easy. Plus there are better ways to make rubber harder while still having it feel satisfying. With the second system i proposed you would struggle without the other fams but you could stay alive without them. Giving you time to find them.

Personally i dont find the constant trail of dead towns very satisfying. Or playing in a town that's survival hinges on a specific race magically waltzing in. That kind of struggle is repetitive and boring imo.

If you have a system that would make things harder than what i propose but still accessible i would be interested to hear it. Im looking for a middle ground. Even if that middle ground is only an inch off of what we already have.

Last edited by Toxolotl (2019-12-07 23:33:54)

Elsayal · 2019-12-08 14:13:52

Why not going with a 10% factor with the non native family ?
You want to get a horse ? Fine, but 90% of the case you just loose the lasso and get nothing.
Same with all biome-related items.
And maybe add a more specific sickness in each biome, that will not help you at all.
So it will be possible but be prepare to fail a lot.

Bowser · 2019-12-08 15:26:09

Any suggestion that makes it so players can survive (at baseline) without needing to "trade" with other families is great. I love it.

Maybe while we're at it we can make deserts spawn horses heavily, and other biomes spawn them rarely, so that non-black families can also get horses... which are needed to find other families in the first place for trading.

I've seen so many towns die simply because of a newcomen well with a torn seal... and no way to get rubber. This especially sucks if you are ginger or white, since you need two other families to happen to find you (or find them), and often do this without horses.

It seems like the only way to families to move up in tech tiers is to have a bell town, and everyone just living together in a massive community with anarchy and constant griefing, or steal supplies from other families so that you can get by. I mean what can you really give someone for an exclusive resource that would make it worth it, especially if you don't have any to give yourself (gingers pre-rubber, whites period, etc)?

In short, rubber is the primary reason towns fail and die, and I'd love to see any way for rubber to be obtained outside of family trading. We have gold that can be obtained through incredibly convoluted methods with chemistry, why can't we have something like this with rubber? Like, you can just find gold veins as a ginger if you are lucky, but black people can use a very interesting style of chemistry that usually takes a lifetime to complete to get gold from electrum ore. We could just apply this same idea for other races in non-racial specific biomes, so that they could either get rubber the easy way (trading) or the hard way.

Last edited by Bowser (2019-12-08 15:35:56)

Bowser · 2019-12-08 15:35:08

Elsayal wrote:

Why not going with a 10% factor with the non native family ?
You want to get a horse ? Fine, but 90% of the case you just loose the lasso and get nothing.
Same with all biome-related items.
And maybe add a more specific sickness in each biome, that will not help you at all.
So it will be possible but be prepare to fail a lot.

This sounds horrible. 10% chance of success, 90% chance to lose two ropes. This is just making the game frustrating for the sake of making it frustrating. This doesn't have to be one extreme or the other. Just make it so horses have a very low chance to spawn in other areas, like the savanah or green areas. Boom, a way to get trading started without making horses too easy to get or too frustrating to obtain.

Racial sicknesses in biomes they aren't comfortable with is something I'd also be okay with. Something that doesn't necessarily kill but hurts you in the long term by putting you out of commission for a while (say, you have a high chance of catching cold from being in the snow area--your hunger will go down twice as fast [4x in that biome] and will not heal until you leave the biome for 5 minutes or perhaps use medicine. In addition, make it so players walking through these biomes run at 75% speed... if not slower. Now you have an ideal reason to trade, but a way to get unique resources when absolutely critical.)

Punish players for utilizing biomes they are not specialized in, but at least make it possible with a lot of work. And don't make that punishment RNG based, that's the absolutely worst way to balance issues like this. It would be great to have cars and a virtual factory going, but even just one rubber is enough to prevent your well from drying out permanently. Can you not survive long enough to make one short trip to get sulfur, palm oil, and rubber?

One Hour One Life Forums

#1 2019-12-06 13:22:05

A strange concept for rubber.

#2 2019-12-06 13:49:55

Re: A strange concept for rubber.

#3 2019-12-06 18:38:26

Re: A strange concept for rubber.

#4 2019-12-06 18:43:32

Re: A strange concept for rubber.

#5 2019-12-07 07:19:25

Re: A strange concept for rubber.

#6 2019-12-07 08:50:22

Re: A strange concept for rubber.

#7 2019-12-07 23:32:32

Re: A strange concept for rubber.

#8 2019-12-08 14:13:52

Re: A strange concept for rubber.

#9 2019-12-08 15:26:09

Re: A strange concept for rubber.

#10 2019-12-08 15:35:08

Re: A strange concept for rubber.

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